Could you drive 5 miles less a week?

פורסם: 19 במרץ 2010, 11:33 על ידי: Sustainability Org   [ עודכן 19 במרץ 2010, 11:36 ]

Around 40% of CO2 emissions in the UK are caused by things we do as individuals. Across these activities, personal car travel is the single biggest contributor to personal CO2 emissions:

  Household kgCO2 Individual kgCO2 Total
Space Heating 2,473 1,055 24.8%
Water Heating 1,197 511 12.0%
Lights 358 153 3.6%
Kitchen 952 406 9.5%
Study 249 106 2.5%
Entertainment 384 164 3.9%
Other Electricity Use 71 30 0.7%
Personal Car Travel 2,607 1,112 26.1%
Motorcycle Travel 23 10 0.2%
Other Transport 267 114 2.7%
Flights 1,395 595 14.0%
Total 9,976 4,256 100.0%

With personal car travel being the single biggest source of personal CO2 emissions in the UK, what can we as individuals do about it?

The starting point is to think about the impact of our car journeys which account for more CO2 emissions than other kind of UK transport. Imagine if every car was fitted with an electronic taxi meter displaying the amount of CO2 and fuel costs generated by each car trip. As with a water meter and water usage, it might help us think twice before we jump in the car.

More than half of all car trips are five miles or less, accounting for approximately a fifth of household car CO2 emissions.

As a first step, if all UK drivers reduced their driving by five miles a week, we could collectively save around 2.70 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

Together – with efforts being made by Government to ensure that transport makes a major contribution to the UK’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions – we can begin to make a difference.

5 ways to save 5 miles

Pins in a mapKnow before you go – using a journey planner can help you find the quickest and easiest route to travel by either car or public transport.

SignpostPlan ahead – to combine car trips as part of the same overall journey rather than lots of separate trips. The CO2 and fuel cost savings add up, and make best use of precious time.

WalkingIt’s good to walk – its tempting to use the car to travel just a mile down the road, but it is the perfect distance to walk. As well as health benefits, walking the one-mile trips instead can save you over £160 each year in fuel.

CyclingLife on two wheels – nearly a quarter of all car trips are under two miles. Cycling instead can take just 12 minutes and a great way to exercise – each two-mile trip can burn up over 100 calories.

Car wing mirrorShare a car – travel by car with friends and family, for all or part of a trip.

Source: ActOnCO2

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